Evangelion: Angel's vengeance
by Jerricom
Summary: What really happened that day when NERV-2 and Evangelion Unit-04 dissapeared into a Sea of Dirac, believed to have been caused by the Eva's S2 engine failing? Was it really? Was it possibly a deliberate action, brought about by the desire for vengeance? In this short story you will find out.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Why would you do this?**

NERV-2 base is build atop of a might mountainside, looking down upon the rolling plains below, like the old fortress of Iwo Jima. The mountain itself has a shape somewhat similar to a horseshoe, NERV-2 placed in the centre, overlooking the valley and the falling ridges that makes up the rest of the arching mountain range. Within this valley there is a small city, Scarleton. It was but a village when Second impact occurred, but now it has grown into a minor city, with even a pair of small high glass-and-steel in the centre of it all.

The NERV-2 base, also known as Fort Scarleton, may not be the epicentre of a brutal and epic war between humanity itself and the evils that'd destroy it, but it still holds some major value in the fight. Because, as of right now, Fort Scarleton is the safe-house of the third real production model Evangelion, Unit-04. The first, Unit-02, is being held up in NERV-3, apparently doing its rounds quite well.

_Anyway_.

Stepping out of the balcony, out of the mid-summer evening heat and back into the apartment, Kevin Davis adjusts his glasses as he walks into the kitchen. "Well, what's for dinner tonight, dad? The smell makes me very curious.."

He peeks into the kitchen, where a smell that reminds him of delicious salmon, but what his father is just taking out from the oven ain't nothing like delicious salmon. Oh well.

His dad opens his mouth to speak, but as if summoned to save Kevin's dad from an embarrassing answer, there is the sound of the door opening, and into the kitchen from the other entrance comes Kevin's older brother, Artemis. With stubble on his chin and shoulder-long brown hair he's always got that smugness about him, no less now. He's a nice guy, mind you, but he's got a tendency of being somewhat.. Nonchalant. Something that he's never, to Kevin's subtle fury, never once gotten in trouble for.

"Got to say, it sure is quite the nice evening out there, Kevin," Artemis throws himself down into a chair by the table and grins at Kevin malevolently.

Kevin in turn can't hold a subtle glare back, and slowly walks over to his chair, sitting down as well. "I'm sure," he says at length, "How was the mosquitoes?"

"You know there are no mosquitoes here now, dumbass. Havn't-" he's suddenly interrupted by Kevin turning to his father, who's name is Gerald, saying, "Are you sure this is Artemis? He seems to actually know stuff."

"Cut it out, both of you." Comes the answer from Gerald. "You do no good to taunt Kevin, Artemis. Considering his employment, i'd think you'd be more interested in what he's up to. I'm surprised you're not showing interest at all."

"Meh, I know that it's so indescribably top secret that there's probably a N-ASA (Nerv-America Security Agency) sniper trained on my very head this moment. I ain't taking no chances."

"Oh, don't say such things. We're his family, i'm sure they trust us," Gerald smiles reassuringly at Artemis, to little apparent effect.

Kevin looks down at the stuff upon his dinner plate, and the fact that he's seriously considering whether his brother is right or not makes him question his sanity. He's going to have to ask the CEO up at NERV-2 tomorrow.

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"Ready and set up here! Begin at your discretion.." A smugness he only expresses when sitting the entry plug fills his entire body as Unit-04 lurches with the day's first step forward. The Eva's silver armour gleams in the simulated afternoon sun, and it turns its head around in unison with Kevin. "Today is a good day to show off!" he exclamates with a confident vigor.

Next to him a holographic display window flashes up, showing a data feed from the NERV-2 Magi, reading out the data of an approaching angel.

And no sooner than he realises he can't see the Angel, he feels something grab a hold of his head from behind. With a grunt he tries in vain to get a good enough hold of the Angel's hand to get it off, and the Angel then responds by throwing him to the ground so hard that the eva's head sinks deep into the ground. Kevin groans, his head throbbing and beating as if his heart had changed place with his brain, and with some effort gets the Eva's head out of the ground. Still in a kneeling position, he turns the head of the Eva up and around, and he gets an eyeful of the fourth Angel, its beaked visage hanging overhead, staring, judging. Eric in turn grits his teeth grimly and thinks that the Angel may not agree with his earlier statement.

Focusing, draws his first progressive knife from the left shoulder pylon. Curling up, and then springing out towards the Angel and brings the knife back for the strike, the beaked monster simply standing there, not moving.

However, just as Unit-04 jabs forward with the knife, the Angel brings its right hand up, and the knife buries itself in the angel's palm, an AT field flashing for a second, keeping Unit-04 from nocking the angel down in its leap.

A long, bony spike attached to the angel's right elbow starts glowing, and is then thrust through the angel's arm and through its palm. This shatters the prog knife and punches straight through the Unit-04's hand. The hand follows the purple, energised spike outwards, and when it stops Unit-04 stands there with it's hand hanging in the air above it, like the victim of a incredibly half-assed crucifixion.

Inside the entry plug, Kevin's desperately gripping his hand, the feedback pain cutting into it. It's not quite as bad as if he's actually gotten stabbed through the hand, but it's close enough for him to grunt repeatedly in pain.

He thinks back to his training, how to focus past it. And so he wills the Eva on to fight back.

The Eva's jaw locks strains somewhat, and with a whining sound an AT field is formed, golden hexagons of diminishing sizes within each other forming a barrier between angel and Eva, several layers forming upon each other to form a compressed sandwich of AT fields. And with a growl issued from both Eric and the Eva the fields puls outwards, throwing the angel away and freeing the Eva's left hand.

And in the mountain range on the other side of the city, the Angel's thrown into the rock face, a cloud of dust covering the impact side. Inside the entry plug Eric grins, "Let's try this."

And pushing away the armour plate that covers it, the Eva's core makes itself known, the shining red crystalline surface beginning to pulse.

And with his tone a mix of battle fury and sheer glee, Kelvin announces, "Activating S² engine!"

The Eva's silver armour starts glowing faintly, and the black highlights covering some parts of the metal plates begins glowing black. Two gunmetal grey crosses, one each attached to one of the Eva's forearms, start to glow pink, and extending forward from each is a pink whip-like appendage, each as long as the Eva's arm. The air turns dark and purple as Kelvin expands Unit-04's AT field.

And inside the entry plug, build-in stereos starts thundering modern heavy metal as Kelvin's face spits in a grins now only out of sheer glee.

Whips flailing and eyes shining the Evangelion's jaw locks release and a low rumbling is issued as Unit-04 charges, an AT-field assisted leap taking it from the centre of the city to the west end, to the mountainside where the angel's now standing, the debris still falling off it.

And Unit-04 swings its left arm forward, towards the Angel's core. The whip deflects off the AT field that the Angel puts up to defend itself, and Unit-04 collides with it. Pushing off, the Eva charges again, bringing the right whip in first and the fist right behind.

"Have some o' this!" Eric screams as the full force of Unit-04's attack is brought down upon the angel's field, which flickers for a moment before shattering like a glass wall, and the whip effortlessly digs deep into the angel's flesh.

Eric follows up the attack by raising his elbow as Unit-04 falls down upon the angel, nocking it to the ground and breaking its beaked mask. Putting his heel to the beak and bending the face upwards, the expected energy blast goes skywards instead of hitting Unit-04.

Eric then releases the face from his lock -the Eva's leg having previously blocked his ability to attack the downed angel- he now aims the whips like dissecting tools, and swings; the Angels' core is sliced in three, the three pieces hanging loosely in the angel's flesh for a second before turning to the crimson red angelic LCL, quickly followed by the rest of the angel simply breaking, as if whatever was holding it together just failed, the skin tearing, red LCL spurting out, and then it bursts, drowning the entire city district in blood-like liquid.

Inside the entry plug, Eric slowly opens his left eye again to suspiciously peer at the pool of blood surrounding Unit-04.

"No explosion this time..?" he quietly asks himself, asks the LCL, asks the now-blood-covered buildings surrounding him.

And as if on queue, the LCL starts glowing an angry yellow, and a pop-up window next to him shows a massive energy build-up around him.

The Eva and himself making a collective slumping of the shoulders, Eric sighs in a resigned manner and silently wonders out loud, as hell's own inferno envelops him; "Why would you do this..?"

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"So, how's Mr. Crispy doing?" The base commanding tactical officer, Allen Wesley, with his greying hair and goatee, smiles his gentle-elder-man smile as the lift he's standing on completes the ascent to the platform upon which Kevin is now in the process of clearing his lungs of LCL.

That smile's a fake, a horrendous lie, Kevin tells himself. That man is evil.

He looks up, eyeing the man in front of him with a slightly raised eyebrow, and coughs out the last LCL before answering, "Shut up, Wesley. That wasn't fair," he flashes a tired grin, and turns to the giant, silver-and-black Eva behind him, "Well, so how did I do? D'you think i'm actually fit for duty now? I only scratched the paint this time."

"The MAGI analysis of the simulation shows that you made an good performance. And, as it happens, your synch ratio rose another two percent." Allan clasps his hands behind his back.

Kevin nods to himself, "Sweet," and turns to Allan, mirroring the old man's stance, "So, can I have lunch now? I'm kind of hungry."

"That you can. I think Annelie's waiting for you there as well. She's even reserved a seat for you."

Kevin nods and starts walking, past Allan and to the lift that'd take you down to the central base hub. But as Kevin walks past Allan, the old man says, "You've got to admire such dedication from a girl, don't you?"

"La-de-da.." Is the only deadpan answer he gets as Kevin walks up to the lift and is off.

Yeah, Kevin knows that Annelie's kinda got a thing for him, but he's always stuck to the idea that they should keep things professional. Having a relationship might interfere with their ability to work, and should either of them get hurt somehow, then it most certainly would.

Then again, he's always liked her as a friend. She's clever enough, pretty and is susceptible to his humour – something that does not happen often. She's a bit naïve and girly like the more stereotypical female characters from some anime, though, which is a bugbear for him.

_Anyway._

Weaving his way through the metal corridors that make up NERV-2, he swiftly picks his way towards the mess hall. "Kept a spot for me, huh? You'd think she'd rather be watching my performance at the simulation than keeping me a spot at the lunch table. But hey, I take what I get," he says. Scratching his still-soaked-in-LCL hair, he turns a corner and heads into the mess hall.

He's not overly comfortable to head to lunch still in his plugsuit and soaked in LCL, but this time he needs to. Sometimes he wished he could have a tiny slice of the S² organ fitted in Unit-04's chest. Not having to eat for sustenance, not having to breathe air to live, and being able to regenerate your wounds just like that. Oh well.

Looking around, he sees to his relief that the hall is fairly empty. This also makes it rather easy to spot Annelie, sitting by one of the small round tables, waiting. She shines up as she sees Kevin enter, pushing herself off the table and walking up to him rather hastily.

Eric can notice an ever so slight blush on her cheeks, most likely because of him wearing his plugsuit. She stops at arms length, straightens her back and seems to get her emotions under control, clasping her hands behind her back. "So, how did it go, Kevin? I'm sorry I couldn't go and watch myself."

"It went just fine. The MAGI thought I did as well enough to be considered a full-fledged Eva pilot now, apparently. Got blown up again though." He draws his fingers through his hair again, and sighs as his hand gets even wetter, not having thought that one through. _Oh man that sounded dirty._ "And now i'm here to get myself some well-deserved lunch! Have you eaten already?"

Annelie smiles and shakes her head, "No, I havn't, I waited for you."

"Well then, let's not waste time," Kevin smiles and goes to get his much-longed for lunch. They both collect what they want on their plates and sit down to eat, Kevin having cleaned his hands of the LCL first. He almost throws himself over his food, where as Annelie only eats with mild enthusiasm.

Suddenly looking up at Kevin, she asks, "So, do you think we're going to get shipped off to Japan anytime soon, then?"

He looks up, swallows with a pondering look on his face, and answers when his mouth is empty again, "I wouldn't know. It seems likely, though." He takes a sip of his water, "I wouldn't say I'd look forward to it an awful lot, _honestly_. I have it just good and fine here."

"Mhm. Well, I feel like I could use a change of scenery. I mean, Scarleton is pretty and all, and it's not like it's boring here, but going to Japan would be so _exiting_! Meeting new people and stuff. Not that I dislike current company, that is.." she gives Kevin a sideward glance, smile playing over her features.

Kevin in turn shrugs, and leans back with a sigh, "Well, maybe it would be nice for a change of locale. Anything to get away from Wesley," he says with a grin. "Well, I'd like to get over there to have a bash at the Angels, a real one. And maybe now that the MAGI finally sees me fit to go out against the Angels in combat, we just have to get you up to snuff, and it's all good to go! So, if you want to go to Japan, it's all riding on you!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I am nowhere near as good as you, yet. By the way, Rebecca called from school while you were in there battling the Angel. Apparently, she and a couple of friends are arranging a little party in the school's meeting hall. It's a birthday party, kinda, and she said I could take you along," Annelie says, her cheerful tone infectious. However Kevin can see that she has plans extending beyond that of simply taking him to a birthday party. No big surprise there.

"Well.. One question, though; will there be _anyone_ I know present at the party?" he affixes her with a questioning gaze, hoping that he's not being to mean to her.

She falls to silence at the question, not seeming to have the answer. And now Kevin feels terrible, as a rather forlorn mood settles over Annelie.

"Look, Annelie.. Why don't you call and ask? I mean, if at least Carl can make it as well i'll gladly go, but you know how I get if- You know, let's rephrase the earlier question – will there be any other guys at the party?" He does his best to sound friendly, which seems to help to some degree. And when he mentions the thing about whether there simply will be other guys there Annelie seems to lighten up a little. "Yes, yes I believe that someone's brother's coming. And I think I might be able to convince Rebecca's boyfriend to come as well," she says with a hopeful smile.

"If that's the case, i'd be more than happy to come. When is this party, then?" he wonders, turning back to his meal.

"It's on saturday."

"Sounds fine to me."

They exchange a smile, and go to leave their finished meal plates.

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Settling down in the chair by the desk illuminated green, Anton Rosardo scratches the bridge of his nose as he waits. He doesn't have to wait long, as four other desks with differently coloured highlights appear in the room, projected from a set of holographic generators. At each desk sits a man, dressed in the illuminating colour from his respective desk.

"This council is called to session. Rosardo, how's the progress on Unit-04? Hopefully no problems have occurred?" the man with the visor says, also known as Keel Lorenz.

"It is progressing well. There are no problems with Unit-04, and the pilot's training is coming along fine. As a matter of fact, our MAGI thinks he's now cleared your standards for being a full-fledged Eva pilot. So, depending on how well-trained you want the secondary pilot to be, we can ship Unit-04 to NERV-3 at any time," Anton responds, clasping his hands upon the desk and looks out over the committee.

"Those are good news indeed. But I still havn't fully digested that you're using the core of an _angel_ in the Evangelion, Anton. How can that possibly be safe?" the committee member behind the green desk wonders, looking over at Rosardo as if thinking he was mildly crazy.

"Uzenov, your worries are not justified, as we have gone over before," Keel says calmly, "the Angel's soul is no longer in there."

"Be that as it may, I do not feel comfortable knowing that you've forged the heart of the enemy into our tools. But I digress, I am not one to question the committee's decisions alone," the Russian committee speechman says at length.

Now the man sitting by the red desk takes the chance to speak, "Going back to what we earlier touched upon, about Unit-04 being ready to be transferred to Japan at any time.. After the attack of the earliest Angel, Leliel, we're quite sure that Tokyo-3 is the focus of the angels, and that they're coming in many varying shapes, giving NERV-3 difficulty. _Are_ _we_ going to ship unit-04 to NERV-3?"

"Indeed," it comes from the man by the blue desk, "Even if four Evangelions may seem somewhat excessive, it is necessary. We can not allow the angels to take NERV, and from what the Dead Sea scrolls tell us, it's only going to get worse. I say we send unit-04 to Tokyo-3 as soon as possible, if the primary pilot's training is now complete."

"Agreed," green says, followed by red.

"Sounds reasonable to me," Rosardo says, nodding mildly.

"Very well then, it is decided. Unit-04 will be shipped to Tokyo-3. We can decide upon a date later, gentlemen, right now we have other matters to attend to," Keel announces, clasping his hands.

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"So, they actually convinced you to come to the party, eh? My lord, Annelie's got to have to pull some strings for that one," Kevin says with amusement in his voice, giving Dean, Rebecca's boyfriend, a look of disbelief, lips drawn into a small grin.

"Yea she did, and I had to ask her again and again and again 'are there any other of the guys comin' to the party?' From first to last word in that conversation it took nearly an hour, I tells ya!"

"Mhm, just as I had to ask Annelie the same question. I mean, if they are so insistent on getting us reasonable men into one of _their_ parties, then by god they have got to understand that we ain't coming alone. Being the only guy amongst surely two dozen girls like that can get mighty awkward.."

"Yeah, sure. You just havn't gotten the hang of 'hunting', have you? And I don't understand why you are rejecting Annelie with such a vigor, all you have to do is take her somewhere private and she'll literally throw herself at ya, man!" Now it's Dean's turn to look puzzled, giving Kevin's shoulder a nudge as Dean spells out the last words.

Kevin lets out a small sigh, scratching himself behind his left ear and refrains from meeting Dean's gaze, putting his own straight forward, "I'm sure you know quite well why. You know that we're both, uh.. employees up at fort Scarleton, and I like to keep things professional between business partners, if you get my point."

"But why? Why is that so important? I know you're conducting some type o' secret military experiments up there, but you've said before that it ain't dangerous. Why keep things professional?"

"I hope you never have to find out, I really do," and with that Kevin gets up, as he's seen the bus approaching the stop they're currently sitting at.

Once they've both taken their seats, Dean takes the word again, "A'right, if you don't wanna talk 'bout it, fine by me. Let's discuss the evening's activities instead. As far as I know, it's us, Emelie's brother Emmet, and Mike that'll be making up the manly force of tonight's party."

At that, Kevin shines up somewhat, taken out of his serious mood regarding his 'employment' up at NERV-2, "Mike's coming as well? Well, that's good news, i'll say. He's the perfect ice-breaker we will need at the party. Emmet we can use as a meat shield should the girls get 'antsy', and then we have us two for comedic relief! Excellent!"

Upon mentioning Emmet as use for a meat shield against antsy girls, Dean cracks up somewhat, giving Kevin a slap in the shoulder for his troubles, "A meat shield you say? Perfect, damn pure!" he says in great amusement, "But seriously, I do wish you'd do away with your constant need to have a tactical view of the situation and such, it'll only hinder you at the party, ya know," he give Kevin a meaning look.

"Yeah yeah, I know. Old habits die hard, and this one should've been brought out behind the barn and taken out of its misery _ages_ ago," he sighs in resignation over his own ineptitude to 'go with the flow' like everyone around him seems so good at, "I'll do my best to do the only thing i'm good at at these social events – making fun of myself and my surroundings, and please, if I start discussing physics with the girls, just take me out and shoot me, it's all just easier. Your attempt to get me 'into the spirit of things' last time was, and let me emphasise; _**not **__appreciated._"

Making the most false surprised face ever in the long history of faked surprises, Dean raises both hands up defensively, "I don't understand what you're talking about. I'm pretty sure Melissa actually learned something that day she still remembers today. Maybe you should ask her?" and the answer from Kevin comes as, "Oh god no!"

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"So, two _cans_ of soda walk across the road. One is driven over by a.. car or what have you, and when he joins his friend on the other side of the road in a most annoyed mood, his friend said, "Well, you know, such things _can_ happen."

"Oh shut up!"

"Worst ever!"

"Best ever!"

"Damnit, now I got thirsty again."

These are a choice few responses to Kevin's latest attempt to 'do his thing', which has met with mixed results during the evening so far. The party went of to a slow start, and apparently the name 'birthday party' was just a facade for a quite regular party with music, loads of soda pop, snacks and other sh*t, with no presents or even a 'happy birthday'-song.

Oh well.

Turning to Dean, who's standing around with Rebecca, Kevin asks, "Do we even know who's birthday this is for? Considering my memory, I havn't got a frikkin' clue.." he bounces both eyebrows up and down once in a resigned manner, and Rebecca answers, "I think it was Cherry's.. You know who she is?"

"Havn't got the slightest notion, and quite frankly i'm not going to ask," Kevin says with amusement in his tone, "But there is one question I do have – what is Mike over there doing, and why is he doing it?" with a deep frown Kevin points with his coke bottle at Mike, standing at the other side of the hall with half a dozen girls around him, now in the process of mixing the content of three bottles into a plastic container of some description.

"Havn't got the slightest notion, and quite frankly i'm not going to ask," Dean mimics, "Go find out, make sure he doesn't blow himself up or 'nything," he continues with a grin.

"Mhm," Kevin says, and then continues, with sincerity in his voice, "I wouldn't be surprised if he's _actually_ making some sort of bomb over there. Damage control on the way.."

With eyebrows still raised high Kevin walks over to Mike, and looks over the shoulder of one of the onlooking girls. Not a hard feat, considering he stands half a head taller than the lot of them. "Mike, what is that? If you're trying to make firecrackers again, then I hope i'm not the first amongst current company to advise you not to?"

"Oh, you Kevin! Brilliant! You've got a good head for this, right?" Mike says and holds up what's currently in the plastic mug.

"A good head for this? You mean my A+ in chemistry?" Kevin tilts his head ever so slightly to the side.

"Yeah."

Kevin shoulders slump, "It's soda pop, for crying out loud, what am i to do with it that you can't? If anyone here could make a bomb out of that it's be you.." This little comment evokes several girly giggles from the group of girls surrounding them.

"Well.. How d'you think it'd be if I mixed some beer in it?" Mike wonders, a mad grin playing over his features. At the mention of beer, Kevin reacts visibly, and says, "Wait, someone brought beer here?" He scans the party area with a suspicious gaze.

"Uhu. Sarah brought a few cans."

"_Right,"_ Kevin says at length, "Well, as to putting beer into.._ that,_ I'm pretty sure it'd result in some sort of highly corrosive -and possibly explosive- acid, but hey, yolo right?" He represses a shudder over mentioning _that_, and makes a 'lol joke'-gesture. He then spots Annelie coming towards him across the hall.

He sets his course to meet her, and Annelie opens her mouth to speak.

Whatever words that she intended to mouth are, however, transformed into a shriek, one amongst many, when the ground beneath them suddenly quakes and rumbles, throwing almost everyone off their feet.

Then, a whining sound goes through the air, a high-pitched hum like a mix of a taser and glass being crushed. Kevin knows the sound all to well. _Unholy crap._

Helping Annelie unto her feet, he throws a quick eye around the hall. Nothing damaged exempt for some glasses.

"Annelie, you heard that whining sound, right? I think there may be an Angel in town. You, uh, sit tight and i'll call HQ." Annelie nods, a little bit of fear evident in her eyes. Kevin turns away from her and walks away from the tightest crowds to avoid the noise and eventual eavesdroppers as he dials the special number to get directly to NERV-2 bridge operations. Allan responds almost immediately, "Kelvin? You need to get yourself up here right away, and get Annelie as well! We have an Angel by our damn doorstep, and it's just enveloped Scarleton and NERV-2 in an AT field of some sort. How long will it take you to get here?"

"Good evening, by the way. Well, if N-ASA is doing its job right, we should be inside NERV-2 perimeters in ten. I'll collect Annelie and find our escort. When we arrive at the base i'll call you again. Kelvin out," he says quickly and turns back to Annelie, who now seems more collected, "We are indeed dealing with an Angel here, we've got to get to NERV-2 now. ¿Comprendes?"

Annelie nods, evidently struggling to keep her composure, but not only out of fear, he can guess. She probably planned to 'make the move' on Kevin tonight, and this must be no little bit upsetting. But there's nothing to do about that now, now their priority is to get their asses hauling to NERV-2, and for Kevin to get in unit-04.

Weaving through the scattered and confused crowd that five minutes made up a cheerful party, Kevin and Annelie makes their way for the emergency exit, where five N-ASA agents are supposed to be standing covert vigilance over him and Annelie. But before they can get halfway, someone grabs Kevin by the arm. Turning around, Kevin sees Dean standing there, his face twisted in fear, "Dude, answer me this one question. That horrible whining sound, and the earthquake – did your little military friends up at fort Scarleton cause this? You seem awfully inclined to leave.."

"Was it caued by my 'military friend' up at the fort? Not directly. But I believe we might've attracted something here."

"What is out there?"

"An Angel."

And with that, Kevin rips himself free and sets a very hurried pace away, heading for the emergency exit, where they find the N-ASA agents. They are silently lead to a black car waiting outside, and off they are.

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"The hell is it doing? Slams down on our very doorstep, envelop us with some sort of AT field and- By the way, have the MAGI come out with any new info about the AT field yet, Simmons?" Looking over the shoulder of one of the three senior 'bridge bunnies' of NERV-2, Stephen Simmons, Allan Weasley keeps his gaze intently focused upon the intruder outside, this official disturber of the peace displayed upon the bridge's central viewscreen.

He's seen pictures of the earlier Angels, and know that they're quite bizarre, and this one definitely meets the standards.

The main body of the Angel has the shape of a levitating young human female, completely naked and with wholly flat, featureless white skin, as if covered by some tight-fitting cloth. It , however, lacks both arms and head. Instead, from each side where the arms are supposed to extend there are two short stalk-like limbs extending outward ending in disc-shaped pods, each with a circular, lidless, crimson red eye. One of these also extend from the throat.

Moving on, attached to the back of the Angel there is a sort of wheel, a circular white metal-esk disk without spokes, large enough to keep the torso part of the Angel's body within it. Something of note is that it doesn't seem attached to the body in any way, as it bobs about in the air in a slightly different rhythm compared to the main body. Two two quarters of a similar disk are connected between the Angels' side and to the lowest of the eye-like appendages, one for each. Another pair of circle parts, halves this time, are attached to the Angel's hips. Each of the incomplete wheels have a single angelic wing attached to it, each about the length as the Angel's leg. The wings extend outwards and backwards, giving the creature a truly angelic appearance.

And it just sits there, as if waiting for something.

And as if the Angel could read his very mind, now something starts happening. The Angel's wings starts growing ever so slightly, and the chakra-like object behind the Angel and the other circle pieces start glowing.

"AT field gauges are going off the scale! We can't-" the bridge bunny gets no more said, however, as a shining golden light is issued forth from the Angel, illuminating the entire city, but it's focus being Fort Scarleton. But it was not the end.

He could feel it, the presence of the Angel's mind, the light probaly acting as some sort of extension of it's own mind. It wants something. It's looking for something.

Then, images start flashing before Wesley's view. It all seems like video recordings from the battle with the fourth Angel, Shamshel. He sees the Angel striking at unit-01 with the energy whips, sees how the Eva is slammed into the mountainside. Then, how unit-01 charges down against the Angel, stabbing it in the core. He then start seeing things he's pretty sure he hasn't seen before. The core of the angel being brought into a research facility, how it's studied in different ways, and then much later installed into Unit-04. The image then fade to red as screams begin to echo in his head, screams of pain and despair, and a whispering voice repeating the words 'vengeance for my kin'.

Then, the assault promptly stops, and he finds that he is in need of picking himself up from the floor, as is everyone else. When Wesley looks around, he sees shock, disgust and fear in everyone's eyes, and there's probably a good amount of it in his own as well.

And still, the Angel just sits there.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The challenge of Castiel.**

"Kevin, how soon can you be in the entry plug? The Angel still hasn't taken any directly aggressive actions, I would actually take a guess that it's waiting for you, or at least Unit-04."

Holding the phone to his ear once again, Kevin takes a moment to compose his response, "I'll be in the plug in three minutes, if traffic's favourable. Annelie's getting into her plug suit right now," he says, and continues, "Hey, about the Angel's apparent waiting for me.. D'you think it might have to do with Unit-04's S²? Could this one actually be out for the Eva's core because it once belonged to an Angel?"

Now it's Wesley, at the other end, who takes a few moments to respond, "That's.. If that is the case, then.. It doesn't matter, though. What matters is that you get out there and destroy it. We can wonder about its motives afterwards, yes?"

"Fair enough. Alright, i'm in the Cage now. Warm up the activational circuits, i'm going in."

Turning the phone off and putting it on a trolley standing by the lift that'll take him up to the Entry plug, he rolls his shoulders and flashes a grin. "I didn't even have to go to Tokyo-3 to get a piece of the action. Hallelujah."

"Kevin!"

Turning around and looking down, he sees Annelie standing down on the platform below, dressed in her own plugsuit, "Kevin, I.. Good luck out there. Make sure to get back alive," she says and smiles a smile that Kevin can see all the way from up there that it's very forced indeed.

"I will, promise! And- yeah, I will!"

And with that, he turns back to Unit-04 towering in front of him, the Entry plug just now sliding out of the Eva's neck and opening up for him. He climbs in, and taps a command in on the butterfly-wing controls that are the entry plug seat's joysticks, opening a holographic window to his right side displaying the words 'NERV-2 command bridge, voice only', "This is Kevin, i'm ready here. Start activation sequence."

And from the com-window the activation stages are slowly announced by the command staff down in NERV-2 command: "_Roger. Inserting entry plug."_

The plug lurches as it slides into place and locks, the Eva's armour locking down over it.

"_Plug fixed in place."_

"_Direct hydro-transmission system, connection prepared."_

"_First stage connection initiated."_

"_Filling the entry plug."_

Kevin takes a breath, his final gas-based breath before the LCL reaches up over his head, and he takes a deep intake of the oxygenised liquid.

"_Engaging S² engine, setting power levels to default."_

"_Commencing secondary contacts. A-10 nerve connection, normal."_

As this is announced, the plug walls start shimmering, specks of light floating through the LCL. The walls then turn blue, then red, and then suddenly he sees out through the plug's forward walls through a series of screens, connected to the Eva's optical sensors over its eyes.

"_Set the thought configuration to English. All preliminary contacts established."_

"_Bi-directional circuits are open. Synchronization rate at 63.9%"_

A wide grin spreading over his face, Kevin leans forward in his seat, and announces, "Excellent! Evangelion Unit-04, engage!"

And up in NERV-2 command, Allan commands, "Unit-04 to the launch pad!"

"Yes, sir. Unit-04 now in position on the launch pad."

"Ready to roll, Kevin?"

"Yes, sir!" Kevin responds with a gleeful voice.

"Very well. Eva launch!"

In front of the Eva, two giant metal doors open up, and the purple gloom outside reaches into the hangar. NERV-2 doesn't have the launch rails that lead up to the surface like NERV-3 does, since NERV-2 isn't exactly underground.

The pad upon which Unit-04 is standing slowly slides forward, reaches a platform on the edge of the doors. As this happens a second set of doors slide away to his left, revealing a Pallet rifle. Kevin grabs it, makes sure that the safety is off, and then the Eva steps out into the night.

Inside the entry plug, Kevin stretches his arms and fingers, clenching and unclenching his fists and rolling his shoulders. Alright.

Walking down the flight of stairs designed for exactly this purpose Unit-04 slowly descends upon Scarleton. And at the other end of town stands the Angel, still not moving. Kevin decides that if the Angel's going to play dramatic, he might as well exploit the situation.

He hefts the Pallet rifle up, aims, and then lets loose burst upon burst of high-explosive pellets towards the Angel, the sound of the super-sized 209mm machinegun echoing through the valley. Every bullet connects with its target, only to be stopped by the Angel's AT field, shimmering only faintly as the explosions rip across the barrier.

Kevin continues to rain down shells upon the Angel until the Pallet rifle's magazine empties, and when the gun starts clicking he throws it away behind him, "Pallet rifle fire ineffective! What are my orders?"

"Try to drive it away from the city. We can't let the battle take place inside city perimeters!" the voice of Allan says though the communicator.

"Alright," Kevin closes his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, reaching out to the presence deep down in the entry plug. He then opens his eyes again, and announces, "Evangelion Unit-04, developing AT field! Charging up S² engine!"

And with a roar rising deep from within him, Kevin wills Unit-04 onward to the angel, breaking into a run. A cone-shaped AT field forms in front of the Eva as it bends down, the arrowhead-shaped AT field making the spearhead in Unit-04's charge. And the Eva leaps the final distance, breaking the sound barrier as it makes contact with its foe.

The impact caused as Unit-04 collides with the AT field of the Angel is staggering! Every glass in their half of the city shatters, cracks form in the ground where the Angel's and the Eva's AT fields meet, and a mild tremor can be felt even in NERV-2.

And after a few moments, the Angel's AT field begins to ripple, and then collapses completely.

Following up with the charge, Unit-04 wraps its arms around the Angel's midsection and the Angel can do little but be dragged along as Unit-04's momentum carries them outside the city, the Eva's weight slamming the Angel into the ground. With a triumphant cry Kevin drags the Angel up from the broken countryside, hefting it in both arms it leaps towards the mountain range to his right, smashing the lithe chalk-white-coloured body and assorted extremities into the stone, reddish blood spraying over Unit-04's head, chest and arms as the Angel's body starts ripping in the seams.

He then grabs a firm hold of the central eye stalk and pulls, pulling the Angel out of the rock and throwing it away into the ground a kilometre or so away once more. He then stops his assault for a second to catch his breath, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on the site where he last deposited the Angel, dust still covering the impact site.

His eyebrows shoots into the air, however, as a flash of white can be seen from inside the dust cloud, and then a strange, metallic flapping noise can be heard.

It doesn't take long for this unknown thing to make itself very known indeed, as four metallic foil arms extend out from the dust. Each is segmented into perfect squares, each new flap folding out from the previous one, weaving in the air like reflective, flat metallic snakes.

"What the balls..?"

The aluminium-like foil arms continue to fold out, reaching close to absurd lengths of over twenty times Unit-04's length each. And suddenly, they start slithering down towards Unit-04, keeping their distance but Kevin can feel how he's getting enclosed.

Then a light, from a source Kevin cannot identify, begins to reflect off of the foils-like arms, and the light just gets brighter and brighter as the foils focus it on what is standing in the centre – Unit-04, illuminating him but the valley remains dark. Soon Kevin has to shield his eyes, and the Eva is slowly forced to its knees, pressure building up outside. However, as the light intensifies to the points that it's almost painful _through_ his eyelids, he start feeling sick, and his head's pounding. He can also feel the LCL he resides in rippling and behaving oddly for a liquid.

And in NERV-2 command, sh*t starts going down.

"AT field measuring gauges are going off the scale! Unit-04's own AT field is deteriorating at a rapid rate!"

Wesley's eyes narrow as his brain processes this, "Is the Angel trying to make Unit-04 revert to LCL?"

"If this continues, that is a very real possibility," one of the bridge officers responds.

"Kevin, you must develop your AT field fully! Try to disrupt those reflective coatings!"

"Gh.. Doin' my best, command.." is all that comes from the entry plug comm channel.

"Unit-04's AT field now at 40% strength! If it goes below 20% percent then- Wait a second.. Kevin's synch ratio is rising! 75%! 85%!"

"Is the Angel's attempt to neutralise Eva's AT field also affecting Kevin?" Wesley wonders out loud, and the response comes from Rosardo, now having taken his place upon the commander's seat, "The Angel's attempt to disrupt the AT field of the Eva might be affecting Kevin as well, deteriorating his mental barriers.

"Synch ration at 120% and rising! Unit-04's AT field at 29% strength!"

But suddenly, as the synch ratio gauge approaches 130%, the meter measuring Unit-04's AT field stops dropping, and then shoots off the scale. The comm link between NERV-2 command and the Eva is cut off, and gauges recording S² organ activity start rising.

"Unit-04 has raised it's AT field fully, and is still expanding! Plug depth increasing, Kevin's approaching negative plug values!"

And outside, the Evangelion roars in fury at the Angel, which has now risen from the ground and is hovering overhead, the foils extending forth from the central wheel on its back, lines of golden and red drawn across the Angel's body. And in NERV-2 command, you can see two energy whips suddenly flashing, slicing the reflective foil arms, the metallic limbs shattering and the light ceasing. Then, the light resumes again, but now it spreads across the entire valley as the Eva's silver armour starts shining like a light bulb. And issued forth from the Eva's eyes there is a flash, and a purple lance of energy, seen as it passes though the now-dissipating dust cloud from before, lances out towards the Angel.

An AT field is willed into existence by the Angel, and Unit-04's beam breaks into smaller strands upon impact, scattering across the valley and striking the mountains behind, the ground or flowing out into the sky. When the attack's been exhausted, the Angel's AT field fades, and the wheel upon its back start spinning, a humming sound going through the air. The humming ascends in pitch and tone level, becoming a loud, shrill shrieking akin to the terrified scream of a woman.

And in front of the Angel, in what would be the centre of the wheel, a baleful red glow starts gathering like a vortex, sucking in nearby dust and other matter that happens to pass by.

And in unison, there is a flash of light from both Unit-04's eyes and the Angel's gathering vortex, and the energy beams meet in the centre. The titanic clash results in a discharge of energy so great it instantly transforms the surrounding air into high-energy plasma, creating a huge blue-purple fireball that, even though it remains above ground, instantly burns away all vegetation within a half a one mile radius of the epicentre of the explosion, setting pretty much all other flammable materials within a whole mile radius aflame.

And inside NERV-2 command, everyone has ceased in their duties and just stare with sheer awe and terror at the screen, and not even Rosardo or Wesley are able to keep their composure enough to keep the awe part out of their own faces.

"Such power in Unit-04.. Even with the S² engine, I wouldn't think it capable of such levels of destruction.." Wesley looks up at Rosardo, who responds with, "The S² organ itself isn't capable of this. The Evangelions, with the exemption of Unit-01, are made from Adam, but with human DNA as well, meaning that the forbidden union of a human and angel lifeform is, in small scale, a factor in all Evangelions exempt for Unit-01. And now that Unit-04 have an S² engine as well, the partial forbidden union grants it powers _beyond_ _**any**_ Angel. Unit-04 could easily destroy this Angel, if Kevin would achieve a 400% synchronisation with the Eva."

Wesley doesn't respond, taking his time to digest this little nugget of trivia, and lets his gaze wander back to the main viewscreen.

And out there, Hell still reigns, as fire still covers the farther part of the valley where the titanic power struggle's taking place. The plasmatic fireball is just in the process of dissipating, plasmatic snakes reaching out into the surrounding air in search for fuel, and Allan sees Unit-04 standing smack in the middle of the raging conflagration, the Angel hanging a few hundred meters up in the air. Gazing down upon the Eva, its energy vortex still active and sucking in debris, ash and the fire from the fireball itself.

And with the only warning being the shrill screeching issued from the Angel, the crimson vortex flashes again, the Angel's five eyes glowing, an unseen energy lance shooting forth, digging a tunnel through the fireball and strikes the shimmering white Eva head-on. The resulting explosion sends a pink-and-golden energy cross into the sky, and as soon as it's dissipated the Angel enwraps itself in a shimmering golden bubble - and disappears.

It seems to've teleported somehow, as it's now floating over the downed Unit-04. Then, things goes from bizarre to mind boggling, as seem to be the way with the Angels of late.

Suddenly, the circular parts located in the Angel's hips and sides detach themselves from the body, and then they melt together to form a third of a much larger wheel, floating in front of the Angel. Then the larger disc at the Angel's back dislodges itself from whatever was keeping a hold of it and there opens up a hole in the circle, where the recently named third of a wheel then takes place. The wheel-like object is now large enough to encompass an Evangelion within it, and that seems to be the Angel's plan. Folds in on itself and disappears, and the Eva is slowly lifted of the ground, levitating evenly with the Angel on the other side of the wheel.

The wheel then starts glowing, and out of the circular band a second wheel is forged, making it a wheel within a wheel, spokes forming within, all meeting in the centre. If one would look upon the structure from the side now it'd look like a tall and thin X, and you can see a small point of light in the centre of the nestled twin wheels.

"God have mercy.. The Angel.. It' an Ophanim. That explains its power, and its reason for being here," Rosardo ponders out loud as the mystical ritual plays out before him, "Carriers of the soul of the Cherubim. Shamshel was an Angel guarding the path to Eden, and therefore a Cherubim. This Angel is Shamshel reborn, trying to reclaim it's body. Heh.. I wouldn't be surprised if Shamshel said to Shinji upon death; 'Strike me down and I shall return more powerful than you can imagine'."

And outside, the Ophanim again charges its AT field to maximum, eyes opening up all over the surface of the two wheels.

–

–

––

–

–

An eye, and another eye, flash open. His eye. His eyes.

Turning his head, Kevin gazes around, half the world occupied by a crystal azure blue and the other half by a bright, beautiful crimson red.

He then feels a second presence, and turns towards it. Towards the Angel. It has changed shape now, having discarded the eye stalks for a pair of arms and a feminine head, two pair of wings extending forth from the Angel's back. The Angel's body itself is encircled by the wheel it possessed before, now a pure golden.

"What are you doing here?" Kevin asks the radiant, angelic entity. And it responds to him, even moving it's lips, its heavenly voice feminine and with a high-pitched echo, as if summoned forth from some incredibly intricate musical instrument.

"You? You - Me?"

"Yes. You are the beings we call Angels, but you're invading my mind. Why?"

"The mind of Eva. The soul of the Lilim. You possess the same heart that I possess, the fruit of life. Stolen from my kin."

"The core of Shamshel? Is that why you're here? You're out so salvage the soul of Shamshel, or its body?"

"You took his heart, and has now sown it into the body of Eva. Here, I give you this emotion.."

Kevin frowns, and suddenly memories overflow him, memories associated with anger, despise. Vengeance. And then, the instinct to find your path back home.

"You want revenge – or more importantly, you want to release Shamshel's core from Eva. You believe we've created an abomination."

"Yes, but that is not the entirety of my reason. His soul is caged inside Eva, suppressed. And also, disembodied, stuck between life and death. But the soul of the being you call Shamshel also resides within me. I, and we, are a trinity."

"So, you seek to re-unite the three souls into one?"

"Yes."

"Well, then there's not really anything more to say, is there?"

Outside, Unit-04's core is once more pushed out in plain sight, beating and pulsing. And both the Angel and the Eva start floating towards the two-wheel structure, the core of the Angel now finally making itself known as it pushes out through a slit in the Angel's solar plexus region. Overhead a dark storm is gathering, thunder striking around Angel and Eva alike as a blood red halo forms above them.

"The Angel is fusing with Eva," Rosardo states with a resigned candour, "Eva lacks enough human genetic material for this union to result in the same event that occurred fifteen years ago, fortunately. I'd say we are done for, however."

Sighing, standing up straight and clasping his hands behind his back, Wesley smiles mildly, "Well, Anton, it's been a hell of a good ride. And there are worse ways of going, I guess."

"Is that.. Unit-04? _Oh god_, is Kevin still in there?" From out of the blue, or rather red, sky comes Annelie onto the bridge, hands over her mouth as she lets her gaze rest upon the incredible event playing out before them all.

"Yes.. That is Unit-04. This Angel is a type of reincarnation of the fourth Angel, trying to get back to its original body by merging with Eva." Allan says, turning his head towards Annelie.

"But.. But.." falling onto her knees, tears begin to swell in her eyes, "I never got the chance to.."

Placing a hand on Annelie's shoulder, Wesley smiles, "Don't you worry. Soon enough, you'll get a second chance."

Tears streaming down her face, Annelie manages a honest smile, gazing out towards the Angel and Unit-04 outside.

And just as she does, the two entities both touch their cores against the spokes of the two-rimmed wheel, and the physical merging begins in a shower of light, the red halo overhead expanding.

"What will this bring?" Kevin asks.

"Complementation" the angelic apparition answers as the world around them ripples and shimmers.

"But it won't. Only a portion of Eva's genetic makeup is human, most of it comes from Adam."

"That matters not. I seek only to re-create the being that was I before. A partial complementation is all that is required."

"What will happen to me, then? To the people living here?"

"You Lilim will join us, become one with a new being."

"Well," Kevin thinks out loud, smiling, "I can live with that."

And with that, the AT fields of the half-merged Angel and Eva begins resonating, and together they spread an anti-At field encompassing the entire valley, reaching through NERV-2 and over the mountains. One by one, people are visited by the same angelic figure that Kevin sees, taking their hands as they revert to LCL.

Seeing the red pecks that forms and gathers around the Angel before him, Kevin smiles. And suddenly, next to him stands a woman. She stands about as tall as him, blonde hair flowing over her shoulders and blue eyes, over thirty years older than him. The resident soul of Unit-04. _Mother_.

She reaches out and takes his hands, and together they walk forth to the Angel, and Kevin smiles still as he, too, reverts to LCL inside the entry plug.

It's reaping complete and quest fulfilled, the Angel smiles, and as it and Unit-04 joins completely inside the wheel, forged for a moment into a new being, a single word is uttered, **"I am."**

And then the new being, this True Evangelion, collapses, and a beam of energy shoots into the sky, large enough to consume the entire valley and vaporising NERV-2, Scarleton and the mountain range. The beam reaches all the way into the atmosphere where it develops two horizontal pillars, the beam forming into a cross as the blood red halo expands, covering a 89 km² area, and in the epicentre, a Sea of Dirac forms, sucking everything covered by the red halo into it.

The whole event is visible from the moon, and at NERV bases all over the world, alarm bells toll.

**The end.**


End file.
